My DC's go back on Monday and because I am an absolute masochist, I have been on twitter far too much today and got myself really worked up about sending them back. I have been scared about them going back since last March when I pulled them out two weeks early and I sent them back in September with great reluctance. My youngest had a cancer scare over a year ago and it triggered quite severe health anxiety. I am also disabled and shielding (though now vaccinated which is a huge relief).
It seems with this new variant and no vaccine for younger children on the horizon I have to accept there is a good chance they will in fact catch this, that if I want them to have a decent quality of life and go back to school I need to accept that risk. The issue is due to my anxiety I have a really hard time understanding risk/statistics etc and having been born with an incredibly rare disability I have never really been reassured by them. Before schools closed last Christmas there were lots of scare stories about lots of children being in hospital and it seems that this new variant really does infect younger children much more readily.
How worried are you about your children possibly catching covid at school? Do you worry about them getting very unwell or suffering long covid?
I suppose I need someone to help me to get my head straightened out and things in perspective.